The 9 juiciest tidbits from a Mandela aide’s memoir

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Nelson Mandela’s personal assistant Zelda la Grange has released her much-anticipated memoir of the years she spent working for South Africa’s beloved former president — and detailing the nasty family infighting during the final few years of his life.

“Good Morning, Mr. Mandela” tells of La Grange’s 19 years at his side, and her transformation from a young Afrikaans typist who grew up during apartheid South Africa to Mandela’s trusted assistant during his presidency and the years that followed.

Along the way La Grange met world leaders and celebrities, becoming the gatekeeper to Mandela, as well as his caretaker. But ahead of his death on Dec. 5, La Grange was sidelined by some Mandela family members. She recounts their cruelty toward his third wife Graca Machel, whom he married in 1998, and whom La Grange describes as “the only person who really made him happy.”